OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 332: Elijah Vs Sofia

***

I fluttered my eyes open.

Then I closed them.

Then I opened them again.

This action repeated until I came to a conclusion:

'...I'm alive?'

I was.

'What even happened?'

Confused, I began to look around the room I found myself in.

The room was almost all white, as was everything in it, only varying in shades-quite the contrast when compared to what was usual in the academy-with beds, similar to the one I laid on, placed every few meters.

The walls were adorned with many medical thingamajigs, heartbeat sensors, and IV drips.

My head moved slow as I looked around, and when I tried to move, wanting to see more, to stand up, I noticed that my body was stuck to the bed, strapped to it.

'...The Hub.'

It didn't take me long to realize that, and so I called out for a nurse to help me, wanting to know how I got here.

"Excuse me! Is anyone there?"

A reply came not even a second later:

"Here here, just give me a second!"

It was a feminine voice that sounded just outside the room I was in.

As her steps neared, she appeared in my line of sight, entering the room, wearing a gray scrub and white lab coat. Her curves showed clearly in that dress, as if she wore one two sizes small. Her face looked average as was her shoulder-length black hair.

'She doesn't match.'

Happy that I won the silent battle, I asked:

"Can you tell me "

Or at least I tried to, but she cut me off:

"Please, please, relax your back on the bed, Ms. Quinn, we don't want you to get injured."

Annoyed, I repeated:

"Can-"

But she did it again:

"Oh, and don't worry, nothing's wrong, you only need to rest, and you'll be fine."

My brows began to twitch, as I neared my boiling point, but I breathed out, trying to calm myself down.

'She's only acting that way because she's jealous, it's fine...'

Somehow, that thought stopped me from going ballistic and reined in my anger.

"Miss Nurse, can you tell me what happened to me?"

Clicking her tongue, she took out the dining table from underneath the bed, equipped it on the side rails, and then placed my terminal on said table.

Flash...

Suddenly, a bright hologram appeared, and it showed a live feed of the class I was just in with that bastard professor.

"I see you've got your own issues with the man-."

My gaze turned to the nurse.

"Own?"

She snickered.

"Yeah, he brushed me off in the last meeting we had."

Rolling my eyes, I looked back at the hologram, not caring for her words, in fact, they made me somewhat happy-that man shouldn't be looking at women in the first place. He had to repent for what he did.

"You said anyone, didn't you, professor? Then I choose you!"

And speaking of... my words from a few minutes ago rang out the terminal as our professor accepted my request.

"I did indeed, so sure, why not? Now ready yourself, you'll go first."

I watched as he nonchalantly jumped off the throne and Flash Stepped towards me, his hands behind his back.

That got me riled up as I unsheathed my daggers swiftly, and rushed-

"Fall."

As if his words were law, I fell to the ground.

While at the time I couldn't pick up on it since it was so fast, it looked like a sphere-shaped Aether construct materialized behind me and smashed into my neck, knocking me out at once.

"...Grrr."

Gritting my teeth, I grabbed my terminal off the table and threw it at the wall.

Tak!

The nurse ignored my emotional outburst while casually checking the time on her seemingly brand new silver pocket watch.

"By the way, kid, while checking your information, I noticed that you have a sponsor, you should try not to disappoint him... or her, I don't assume."

Stunned, I looked at her with blinking eyes, but I quickly hid my reaction and said:

"I know that... You don't have to tell me!"

Right, I knew that. Well, I 'knew' that I had to stop letting my anger swing me all over the place; my revenge would be impossible otherwise.

But... a sponsor... really? Me? A pathless Celestial? What did they see in me? ƒгeewebnovёl.com

No, that doesn't matter. If her words are true, I needed to get my shit together, fast.

"Whoever they are, they saw potential in me... It's a lot more that I can say for my family.'

Letting out a sigh, I turned my terminal back on with a mental command and checked the live feed of the class.

I was not about to miss whatever that bastard would spit out.

***

[She's watching you now.]

[Good...]

At Lyra's words, Emir's smile widened, and he announced:

"It's time for the top two to fight, please, Elijah and Sofia, get ready."

Elijah matched his big brother's smile and unsheathed his daggers, getting into a fighting

stance.

"I'll show you why I'm ranked first."

His current daggers were much worse than the two he usually trained with, the ones he got from Emir, but they had to make do since students weren't allowed to bring personal equipment. After all, it would nullify all the efforts to create a fair environment where only

skills would thrive.

"You won't last ten seconds."

Sofia equipped her precision rifle, right hand tight on the pistol grip, and aimed it at Elijah,

finger above the trigger.

Both were ready, waiting for their professor's signal,

Emir looked at them for a second, then at the crowd, feeling the building tension, enjoying it, breathing it in, and just as they began to show a hint of nervousness, he snapped his fingers.

"Begin."

At his word, they immediately chanted their abilities, not wasting a second:

"Camouflage!"

"Distant Grasp!"

As Sofia attempted to go invisible, a bloody chain spurted out of Elijah and rushed to her,

aiming to pull her weapon out of her hands.

But it wasn't fast enough. When the chain got close to her, she was already invisible, and his chains latched onto her left arm instead of her gun.

Elijah grabbed the chain, yanking it in an attempt to make her stumble, yet Sofia didn't budge

as he anticipated. Feet dug into the ground.

Her extensive training had molded her into a little powerhouse, surpassing the strength of

the just-above-average boy.

He didn't relent, however, quickly adapting to the strength difference and using the chain to

get closer to her instead of pulling her towards him.

Sofia showed a soft smile and aimed the rifle at him, only using her right hand as her left was

busy fighting Elijah's tug.

Then, with an almost unheard whisper, she pulled the trigger.

"Longshot."